The invention relates generally to systems for printing and reading forms for processing of data generated thereby. It relates specifically to a modular system, microprocessor-based, for printing a coded indentifier on a form and reading the coded identifier to generate data relating to the person identified by the code.
The prior art includes systems for printing and reading forms to generate data relating to particular persons identified on the forms. Such systems included impact line printers, which printed identifying indicia on a form, such as multiple character alphanumeric codes assigned to each person identified on the form. These coded identifiers were used in forms relating to the elections process, as voter registration numbers used on roster and walking indexes, return mail, and affidavit forms.
The printed coded identifiers were read after the election manually, to generate data therefrom for further processing. Such further processing in the elections process, based on such manual reading of coded identifiers, included voter canvas, identification of voting history, and purging. Other processes based on manual reading of coded identifiers in the elections process included reviewing the return mail and affidavit forms.
Moreover, the prior art form printing systems were slow, cumbersome, and expensive. For multiple copies, the printed forms included carbon copies, which were messy to handle and difficult to process. Further, the prior art manual form reading systems were very slow, labor-intensive, and subject to significant margins of error. Such systems required large numbers of workers to work long periods of time. Thus, such systems were inaccurate, inconvenient, inefficient, and expensive to use.